St. Simon & St. Jude Church (Tignish)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

St. Simon & St. Jude Church, also known as Tignish Church, is a Roman Catholic church in Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is the largest church in the province and, at 56 metres tall, can be seen from far away on flat land and even from the sea.

Religious services in Tignish date back to 1799. The first log church was built in 1801, and the parish was established in 1844. The present church was constructed from 1857 to 1860, with a brick exterior and a wooden interior. The church’s large columns were carved from a single tree found nearby. It was consecrated in 1860.

Inside, a notable 1,118‑pipe organ was installed in 1882 and was operated by hand until electricity arrived in 1959. The interior was redesigned in 1888, adding brighter colors, large portraits of the Twelve Apostles, stained glass, and Stations of the Cross. A Montreal artist, François Meloche, did much of this work. In 2001, the interior was renovated again to resemble its original look, including a replica of the high altar, a restored pulpit and baptismal font, hardwood flooring, and a blue ceiling with stars.

There have been reported church-related visions in 2006, including claims of seeing a face believed to be Jesus or Mary on a decorative cloth, and later a vision involving the image of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on a cross. The church remains an important landmark in Tignish and serves a large local parish and nearby communities.